Two competing interpretations currently are predominant in the field of cognitive functioning in adulthood and aging. According to one view, most of the adult life span is characterized by increasingly pronounced deficits. According to an emerging view, however, adaptive cognitive changes continue for many adults throughout the adult life span; indeed, some deficits may be apparent only because past models of adulthood have not been guided by a theory of adult adaptations. The present research aims at providing evidence for, and testing, a psychological control model of adult adaptation. This model is an extension of Piaget's theory of cognitive development in children. Like Piaget's theory, the model emphasizes the relationship between cognition and actions, and states that the regulation of action becomes more effective as cognitive structures continue to mature. This model is applied to the regulation of actions important in adulthood, and has importance for such important adaptive domains of adulthood as the regulation of mental and physical health. Two studies (Study 1: N=150, Study 2: N=80) will apply this model to the concepts of self-regulation of adolescents (grades 7 and 8, 11 and 12) mature adults (ages 20-50), and older adults (ages 60-69, 70 & over). Subjects will respond to an emotion induction task under four emotion instructions. Their responses will be video- and audio-taped and provide the basis for linguistic-developmental analyses of the way in which they construe the causes of their behavior. The linguistic analysis will be coordinated with an analysis of non-verbally expressed emotions (facial actions). The predictions are that with increasing cognitive maturity there will be more complex causal analyses of subjects of their own self-regulatory behavior, and that along with this increase in complexity, verbal and non-verbal expressions of emotions become better integrated. In addition, a battery on intellectual and coping validation measures will be administered. The immediate aim of this 3-year project is to construct developmental scales for the proposed cognitive-developmental levels of adulthood (Study 1) and to apply these levels to an analysis of individual differences in coping effectiveness in older adults (Study 2). The long-term aim is to create an assessment strategy for adult self-regulation strategies which is based on a comprehensive theory of adult adaptation.